Discusses three educational ideas, demonstrating their incompatibility: (1) a focus on socialization; (2) Plato's notion that education is the process of seeking truth about reality; and (3) Jean-Jacques Rousseau's idea that the mind undergoes a developmental process and education furthers its development. Argues that education is learning to use…

Preservice teachers are usually taught to organize lessons by stating objectives, organizing content and methods to teach objectives, and planning evaluation. Suggests an alternative technique that encourages teachers to think of the lesson as a good story to be told rather than as a set of objectives to be achieved. (RM)

Education, as a rational business, has largely ignored children's fantasies. Rather than dismissing fantasy, as both traditional and progressive educators have, the educational task is to begin the process of linking to the real world those basic concepts which make fantasy so engaging and meaningful to children. (IS)

Outlines a theory of cognitive development designed to be useful in defining an ideal education and discusses the practical steps for achieving educational goals. Three stages of cognitive development are proposed and their implications for curriculum content and teaching strategies are discussed. (AM)